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Saturday, January 19, 2013

How is the Trinity Defined?

Below can be found the definition of the Trinity as defined by numerous sources. However, it should first be noted that even the Trinitarian New Encyclopedia Britannica says:

"NEITHER THE WORD TRINITY, NOR THE EXPLICIT DOCTRINE AS SUCH, APPEARS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old Testament: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord' -- Deut. 6:4"

Because the Trinity is not a Bible teaching, many who believe that Jesus is God or in the Trinity are forced to rely only on a few selected, so-called 'proof-texts' which, when carefully examined, are not proof of the Trinity in any way.

Definition:

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

"trinity ...1. [cap.] Theol. The union of three persons or hypostases (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) in one Godhead, so that all the three are one God as to substance, but three persons or hypostases as to individuality. 2. Any symbol of the Trinity in art. 3. Any union of three in one; a triad; as the Hindu trinity, or Trimurti." - G. & C. Merriam Co., 1961
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The Catholic Encyclopedia:
"Trinity, the Most Holy
"The most sublime mystery of the Christian faith is this: 'God is absolutely one in nature and essence, and relatively three in Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are really distinct from each other." - p. 584, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, 1976.
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The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

"1. The Term 'Trinity':

"The term "Trinity" is not a Biblical term, and we are not using Biblical language when we define what is expressed by it as the doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence." - p. 3012, Vol. IV, Eerdmans, 1984.

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Dictionary of the Bible
"Trinity. The trinity of God is defined by the Church as the belief that in God are three persons who subsist in one nature." - p. 899, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1965.

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Today's Dictionary of the Bible
"Trinity, a word not found in Scripture but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct persons." - p. 630, Bethany House Publishers, 1982.

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Easton's Bible Dictionary:

"Trinity
"a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons."

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Encyclopedia Britannica Online:

"Holy Trinity

"In Christian doctrine, the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three persons."

The most accepted definition by orthodox Christians and which "fairly claims the merit of the fullest harmony and most comprehensive consistency with the various statements of Scripture" is "that there are in the Godhead three persons, one in substance, coeternal, equal in power, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." - p. 69, Vol. 27.

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Encyclopedia International (1966):

"TRINITY, THE HOLY, Christian doctrine that in the one substance of the Godhead there are three persons equal in status, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." - p. 226, Vol. 18, Grolier.

"And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other, none is greater or less than others; but the whole three persons are co- eternal together; and co-equal. So that in all things as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
"HE THEREFORE THAT WILL BE SAVED MUST THUS THINK OF THE TRINITY."
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"The Athanasian Creed follows, taken from Schaff's work:
....
26. But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal.
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.
28. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity."

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The Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus:

"trinity /trinitee/ n. (pl. -ties) 1 state of being three. 2 group of three. 3 (Trinity or Holy Trinity) Theol. the three persons of the Christian Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)." - Oxford University Press (Berkley Books), 1997.

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Compact Oxford English Dictionary:

"trinity

"• noun (pl. trinities) 1 (the Trinity or the Holy Trinity) the three persons of the Christian Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2 a group of three people or things.

Cambridge Dictionaries Online:
trinity
noun [C usually singular] LITERARY
a group of three things or people:
'British culture now appears to revolve around the unholy trinity of sport, shopping and sex.'
'Above all Amenabar worships the trinity of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Spielberg.'

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. "trinity
"SYLLABICATION: trin·i·ty

"NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. trin·i·ties1. A group consisting of three closely related members. Also called triunity. 2. Trinity Theology In most Christian faiths, the union of three divine persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one God. Also called Trine."

Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Refuse Blood Transfusions?

Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Believe in the Trinity?

The New Encyclopædia Britannica observes: "Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament, nor... in the Old Testament." - 1985, Micropedia, vol. 11, p. 928.(Read entire article)

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